ollis Huntington Holladay of San Marino, California, made available documents and letters written by his great uncle. They are cited in the Notes as 'Holladay Collection'.

The letters sent by Collis Huntington to his brother Solon during the gold-rush period and the subsequent years in Sacramento, form a significant part of the Holladay collection and were particularly valuable in allowing a reconstruction of a hitherto little known period of Collis' life.

This book includes lavish and fascinating detail, emphasising in particular the complex, often illegal, financial and political wirepulling that generally won the day for Huntington.